“Opening a play is just tough. The idea that actors are weirdly protected from it is a myth. If you imagine yourself having to spend two and a bit hours cooking bolognaise, remembering a whole major work by David Hare and speaking it at the correct moment between chopping carrots and stirring the onions in front of an audience - the normal human response is 'Please, can I go to the airport?'” IfsHumansTwoIdeasPlayWholeMomentsRememberActorsBitsHoursAudienceImagineFrontsPleaseNormalMajorsToughCookingResponseMythOpeningProtectedAirportsStirringOnionsCarrotsHaresChopping Author:Bill Nighy
“So much of 'normal, civilized' life is bull that you can't imagine... What frightens you, doesn't frighten me, what frightens me, you'd laugh at.” Life IsFearLaughingImagineNormalLaughterCivilizedBulls Author:James Clavell
“I imagine there's an undercurrent of the impact of early religious teachings and my break from what I was taught and expected to perform if I wanted to be considered normal in my family of origin.” IfsWantedReligiousBreakImagineTeachingTaughtNormalMy FamilyImpactExpected Author:Wendy C. Ortiz
“I'm really normal. I play football, go to the beach, drive. We have dogs. I can imagine people calling me a character, but I'm Joe Straight.” PeopleI CanPlayCharacterImagineDogFootballCallingNormalBeach Author:River Phoenix
“Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he’s been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to just be people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is like an old-time rail journey—delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.” PeopleLifeChildrenFactsRunningJobsBeautifulLife IsGrowsLordGrowing UpSuccessfulImagineJourneyDegreesWasteNormalToughSpeedTricksDustSmokeBlissDullMutualImagine ThatDelayThrillingLife Is LikeShoutingBeefRailTolerationOld TimeVistasSuccessful Marriage Author:Jenkin Lloyd Jones
“I have at times tried to imagine the despair which leads to suicide, attempted to conjure up the slew and slop of darkness in which only death appears as a pinprick of light: in other words, the exact opposite of the normal condition of life.” LightDarknessImagineConditionsDespairNormalOppositesSuicide Author:Julian Barnes